It was a glorious Sunday for Niti Racing, which claimed a magnificent victory in Race 2 at Austin thanks to Oscar Gutierrez, who thus managed to bounce back after the difficulties of Race 1. Dimas Pratama also scored his first points of the season, finishing seventh.
At the start, Gutierrez had a less than perfect start from the front row, finishing the first lap in fourth position. The Spanish rider quickly moved up to P3, before setting off in pursuit of the leading duo, whom he caught thanks to a strong race pace. With three laps to go, Oscar took the lead, managing to hold off McDonald’s attacks in the closing stages to secure the victory. This marks Gutierrez’s first win in the Harley – Davidson Bagger World Cup.
Pratama defended his starting position – P7 – in the early stages of the race, before dropping to eighth place. As the race progressed, the Indonesian rider kept his cool, finishing the race and picking up valuable points for both spirit and the standings. Following the results of this first race weekend, Gutierrez is second in the overall standings with 33 points, eight behind the leader, whilst Pratama is ninth with nine points.
Niti Racing will be back in action at the Italian Grand Prix, scheduled to take place at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello from 29 to 31 May.
Oscar Gutierrez #99
“I’m really happy with this win. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as hoped yesterday, which can happen in racing, but today I knew I had the pace to achieve a great result and I managed it. I felt quick from the start and everything went the right way. I’d like to thank Niti Racing for their great work, and I can’t wait to get back on track at Mugello”.
Dimas Pratama #20
“In Race 1 I had to deal with a problem at the start, which unfortunately cost me a double Long Lap Penalty. After that I rode without making any mistakes, but on the final lap a new technical problem caused me to crash, and unfortunately I had a minor injury. It wasn’t easy riding through the pain today, so I tried to manage things to bring home the points. I’m pleased with the work done by the team and I’m happy for Oscar’s victory, which has given an Indonesian team a historic win. Now I’ll be working towards Mugello, where I hope to improve”.
Angela Khuu (Team Principal)
“I’m absolutely delighted with this first victory for the Niti Racing Team. Starting a championship from scratch, with a new bike, riders who’ve never ridden a bike like this before, and mechanics who’ve always worked on other racing bikes, hasn’t been easy. This is the result of two weeks of intense work by the whole team, of whom I’m extremely proud and whom I thank from the bottom of my heart. I had no doubts about Oscar’s potential: he proved straight away that he was fast and could adapt quickly to the bike, but winning a race in the first round was by no means a foregone conclusion, and this victory was nonetheless special and the result of a great deal of hard work. I’m proud of Dimas, our Indonesian rider, who has improved steadily since testing and could potentially have finished around fourth or fifth. In Race 1 he had an unlucky race due to technical issues and the crash he suffered caused a minor fracture, but today he was a lion and worked for the whole team, racing to bring home valuable points with a sore hand. For me, this is worth just as much as a victory.
Thank you to all our supporters and I hope I have made Indonesia proud with this result with Niti Racing”.
